Hotspot
by QuasiOuster
Summary: AU version of Jack of All Trades. Jo wishes people would stop stealing her body. Others are about to find out what it's like to walk a few miles in her shoes (with mixed results). Sequel to my stories Reboot and Out of the Frying Pan.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: I don't own any parts of Eureka. No profit is intended or expected. **_

_**And now we're on to the sequel for Reboot and Out of the Frying Pan. It does help to have read/skimmed those two stories or some aspects of this may be confusing (but it's not totally necessary).**_

_**The first half is pretty polished up so I'll keep posting as I tweak the last half. This will eventually become an M rating for one particular chapter but that's not for a while. As always, thanks for reading and feedback is always helpful and appreciated. I hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter One**

Jo ordered Zane to work for the third time but he was distracting her enough to extend their breakfast together a few minutes longer. A sultry whisper and brush of his lips against her ear were pretty effective weapons.

They couldn't get enough of each other these days. To Jo, it was kind of like those first weeks when they hooked up in the old timeline. Back then they were making out whenever and wherever the opportunity presented itself, whether it was in her car or his lab or in S.A.R.A.H.'s coat closet during Zoe's party. Probably to Zane, it was a reminder of their encounters after his pardon when he had teased her about leaving Eureka. He'd catch her at the oddest times of day and night, flirting shamelessly with her until he could get her into his arms and out of her clothes.

Just last night, Jo had mentioned that since they were both committed to staying in Eureka and had surrendered to being with each other, they didn't have to jump each other's bones like it was the last time anymore. Zane didn't see any fun in that attitude.

Jo squeezed Zane's thigh but pulled back, away from him.

"Okay, enough of that. You have got to get to work. I know exactly what you have due at the end of the week, not to mention that Warren Hughes is trolling around town. The last thing we need is him citing us for being unprofessional."

Zane snorted. "This is Café Diem, not Global Dynamics and I'm not on the clock yet. The day I can't make out in public with my gorgeous, available girlfriend who is not currently wandering the country trying to find herself, is the day I skip town for greener pastures." He smoothed her loose hair over her shoulder, caressing her cheek along the way.

"That's sweet," Jo replied. "But Warren Hughes is doing evaluations of the Astraeus crew this week to make sure you're still fit to work here. I don't want to risk you getting redacted for starting off on his bad side."

"What are you talking about? That guy loves me. He told me so at Grace and Henry's wedding."

Jo shook her head. "Still, let's not tempt fate. You have things to do and so do I. So kiss me and get the hell out of here." His petulant sigh was cute but she wasn't going to let him sidetrack her for any longer.

"I guess I can handle that," and he kissed her trying to linger as long as possible before she pulled away. "I'll see you later." She squeezed his thigh again before letting him stand up and depart with his Vinspresso.

Glancing up, she saw Carter hovering at the entrance of the Café smirking at her.

So lost in Zane, she hadn't noticed Carter walk in for his usual Vinspresso and maple bar. He was that predictable. She dreaded Zane's reaction. They'd made progress but he was still prickly when it came to the sheriff.

"Hey Zane," Carter greeted brightly.

"Carter," he answered, annoyed. At least he was being civil. Zane walked out the door without a backwards glance, probably stewing.

"That's nice," she heard Carter mutter under his breath. His embarrassed smile lingered as he walked towards her. She offered him an apologetic look as he slid into the seat Zane had just vacated.

"Soooo, you're back together?" Although it was technically a question, his tone suggested that he was seeking confirmation rather than making on honest inquiry.

"We're working on it."

Allison had filled him in on what happened in the Matrix. He had also asked her about it, although they didn't discuss the situation in any detail. After mulling it over, she was inclined to ignore the issue because talking about it just made things awkward between them. Carter seemed fine with that.

"Congratulations. Maybe now he'll stop giving me the stink-eye."

"Well he's still having some issues with our, uh, Matrix relationship." Jo couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of the situation even if things between all of them were far from amusing.

Carter sighed. "Allison explained it all to me but it's hard to really get worked up about it since I wasn't there and didn't see it for myself. I mean like that would ever happen in the real world, right?" he chuckled.

"I know!" They both laughed at that, a little too forcefully if she was being honest about it. Jo stood and made for the door. "Okay, so I've gotta get back to GD. Warren Hughes is coming from D.O.D. Human Resources."

Carter brightened at that news. "Oh, I love that little guy!" That was surprising to Jo seeing as how Warren had put him and Allison through the ringer last year and almost cost them their jobs. But he'd come around, kind of. "Say hi for me, will you?"

"You can tell him yourself. He's conducting reviews of all the Astraus crew members to ensure they're fit to return to work at GD."

"And the fun never stops."

He paused and got fidgety which told Jo she wasn't going to like whatever else he was about to say. "Hey, you and I, uh, we're okay aren't we?

Jo frowned and put on her best reassuring face. "Yeah, we're good."

The truth was, although she didn't want to make any bigger deal of things, she was still a little uncomfortable about what had gone down in the simulation. It wasn't just the relationship aspect, although that _was_ a big part and Zane's hostility wasn't making that easier to come to terms with. But she had seen some really ugly and scary stuff coming from his simulated doppelgänger. He had tried to kill Zane and would have gotten her killed if Zane hadn't shown up when he did.

But none of that was Carter's problem. Unlike Zane, she was now pretty good at drawing the line between the real Carter and the programmed one.

Taking in her silence, Carter tried to catch her eye. "So, no more weirdness? Because you have to admit that you've been acting really weird," he chuckled. When he saw her frown, he straightened and did his customary terrible job of backtracking. "I mean, not just you because clearly Zane's got some stuff going on about it. And Fargo, well, Fargo's always weird."

Jo crossed her arms. "I get it. And no more weirdness; not from me anyway." She tried to give him a reassuring smile but it felt more like a grimace on her face. Cutting her losses, she turned and started towards the door before she was forced to discuss the matter any further.

Walking to her car, she asked herself quietly, "That wasn't weird, was it?"

She heard the door open behind her and footsteps running to catch up. "Hey, Jo?" Carter called out. "Are these Zane's?" He held up a pair of sunglasses and she walked back towards him to get a closer look. "Nice shades, Ponch. What a jackass."

Jo laughed and grabbed the glasses. She ribbed Zane all the time about his collection of expensive shades. "I'll make sure he gets it."

"I'm sure you will," he teased. Her answering glare only made him laugh harder. Typical Carter.

Yep, they'd be okay.

* * *

Arriving at GD, she received the latest security update from her staff and briefed Thompson, her second-in-command, before he left to meet Warren Hughes' helicopter shuttle on the GD landing pad. Because she had spent time in the Matrix, she felt it was best to keep her distance from the evaluations process. She also had a feeling that Hughes would want to talk to her eventually anyway, not just because of that experience but because of her recent reinstatement as the head of GD security.

She still had a ton of backlog to get through which explained why she was in civilian clothes rather than her usual suit. If she was going to be sitting in her office reading, typing and filing all day, she was going to do it in comfort. Besides, she hadn't slept well the previous night so she was a little cranky. It was best for everyone if she didn't roam the building to deal with irresponsible eggheads all day.

Two hours later, she had finally finished putting away all the files scattered across her desk. She'd cleared out her email inbox the previous day and the next step was to actually read all the reports she had glossed over in her haste to get caught up. Having an office day to get this done was definitely helping.

"Hey there."

She turned from her cabinet and found Zane Donovan coming down the steps to her office, hands in his pocket and mischief in his eyes. She had a feeling all her progress for the morning was about to be majorly stalled for a time.

Nevertheless, she smiled up at him because he was a welcome distraction these days.

"I thought you had things to do today. Now that you're out of Parrish's lab, you're supposed to be looking into that simulation equipment before we have to ship it off to the D.O.D."

"That's what I came down here to talk to you about. I know we discussed trying to figure out what was up with your … experience."

He was wise to choose his words carefully as they'd already gotten into a tiff for him calling her conversation with Holly a "delusion." Jo didn't say anything about his choice of words. However, the topic did pique her interest and she shut the cabinet door to give him her full attention.

"Did you find out anything that we could bring to Grace?"

He paused wearing the same expression he wore when he was figuring out how to explain something to her. "First, we've got to deal with Fargo who I'm not sure is going to be cool with us holding up the device transfer long enough for me to find out anything else about it. He came down to the lab a few minutes ago and pretty much demanded that I shut everything down to lock it up in the vault until the D.O.D. is ready to pick it up. He sounded pretty pissed off that I'd turned it on and didn't give a crap about what we could find out about it."

Jo didn't like this answer, both because of the problem it presented and also because she sensed that Zane was keeping something from her. He'd been tinkering with the machine for a few days and surely he would have more to report back, even if it was the fact that he hadn't found anything. It was sounding more and more like he'd discovered something but was reluctant to say anything until he knew more. She trusted his judgment yet she hoped that he'd feel a little more forthcoming soon.

Instead of voicing her concerns, she asked, "Do you want me to talk to him about it?"

He thought about the offer for a second and shook his head. "Maybe. But let me see what I can get done before he shuts me down. He wants it packed up by the end of the day. I even tried to play the Holly card and no dice. If I haven't found anything by this afternoon then maybe you can give it a try and buy some more time."

Jo frowned. Fargo had been pretty high strung when she saw him this morning but Jo thought it was because of Warren and the evaluations on top of everything else on his plate. He'd gone on about what would happen if he got redacted for being "unstable." She told him that if he didn't calm down, she'd redact him herself for being such a spaz. He'd grinned at her usual sardonic humor and then got back to business.

Still, she wondered why Zane was so interested in stalling Fargo. He'd started looking into the mainframe to humor her and now he seemed invested.

"Did you find anything interesting," she carefully asked again. He'd dodged her initial question which made her even more suspicious.

"Maybe. I don't know. But I want more time with it before we shelve it."

Now Jo knew he was holding back. She wasn't going to push. Yet. But if he wanted her to go pull strings with Fargo, he was going to have to give her more to go on. She'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

Instead, she changed the subject. "If you don't want me to talk to him about it and you're on such a time-crunch, why did you come all the way over here?" she questioned, walking towards her desk.

She felt arms encircling her from behind and a firm hand pulling her back towards his body to nuzzle into her neck.

"I'm running a new diagnostic algorithm on the equipment now with an intern monitoring the results. No need for me to actually be there in person." He let his fingers roam up and down her arm. "And I came all the way over here because I heard you had my sunglasses."

Jo giggled when he hit a particularly ticklish spot. "I remember texting you that I'd bring them back to your apartment with me tonight. So no need to come get them."

"Oh, but I did need to come get it," he explained, brushing his lips against her ear. "Besides, I like telling you things in person. We're friends and work's got me frustrated so I thought you could help me with that."

"Oh you did, did you?" she laughed placing her arms on top of his. "And I bet you've got a few suggestions for how I'm supposed to help you relieve all that frustration?"

Placing a kiss at her brow, he turned her around in his arms. "Now that you mention it, I might have an idea or two." He delivered a series of pecks to her lips. "It involves you and me and maybe this desk. Or if your cell's free, I could work that into the plan." His flirty grin was irresistible.

Jo appeared to think it over. "Well, I do like to be a supportive colleague." She brought his head down again to meet her lips, this time deepening their kiss and melting into him.

That was the last thing she remembered before a piercing pain lanced through her head and she was surrounded by darkness.

TBC …


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Zane had only meant to stop in for his sunglasses and give Jo an abbreviated update on the simulation equipment. Truly, that was his intention.

But Jo's ass was looking too good in those jeans for him not to take advantage. He was really digging the more casual work attire she'd adopted of late. She'd chastised him recently about how they didn't need to jump each other's bones all the time. Yet, his newfound habit of wanting her close was one he had no interest in breaking. Until she got sick of him loving her up all the time, he was going to keep reaching for her.

That's why what started off as a little flirting and maybe an attempt to do some light cuddling turned into a bit of a make out session in Jo's office. Thankfully, Jo was more than willing to humor him. He moaned in appreciation as he felt her tongue sneak in to explore his mouth.

Just when he'd finally moved his hands down to palm the part of her anatomy that had first gotten his notice, he felt her back straighten before she jumped away in alarm. Zane looked around to see if someone had busted in on them but found no one else in the room.

"What's wrong?"

He watched as her eyes darted back and forth, confusion clouding her expression. She turned to him as if noticing for the first time where they were and what they had been doing. "What the frak, Zane!" She stiffened and glared at him, arms akimbo.

Zane was still holding his arms up, not having recovered from Jo's abrupt ejection out of his embrace. "Uh, is there a problem, JoJo?"

"Jo? Where is she because this is really weird and she needs to know about this or take my sexual harassment complaint or something! I realize we're buddies now and everything, but this—" she indicated by gesturing between them and frowning in disgust, "—this is too much." She reached a hand up to stroke her forehead as if trying to shake the cobwebs from her brain.

"Okaaay …" Zane wasn't sure how to even respond to Jo's, frankly, insane change of mood. Approaching her slowly where she was still frantically taking in her surroundings, he tried to get her attention. "Maybe we should go see Allison because you're acting really bizarre right now."

She scowled even more fiercely while slowly retreating from him. "I can't believe this, Donovan. This is low even for you." Her face fell and sadness overwhelmed her expression. "I'm still in mourning and I'm vulnerable. You shouldn't be taking advantage."

Zane was at a complete loss about where this had all come from.

"Now, I'm your boss and I say cut it out so I don't have to report you to HR. Someone is acting bizarre here but it's not me."

Zane sighed. "Jo, seriously, are you playing a joke on me or something? I'm sure I've had it coming for a while but this is getting out of hand."

"Exactly! Jo isn't even here! She'd kill you if she were." She looked around as if searching for someone. "I don't even know how _I _got here. One of _your_ pranks, no doubt," she accused, crossing her arms.

She froze and looked down. In stunned silence, Zane watched as she took in the appearance of her hands and then her arms. She reached up to touch her hair and run her fingers through the tendrils that she had left loose at his insistence this morning. Finally, she drew her eyes down and up her body until they rested into the opening of her button down shirt.

"Holy socks! I'm Jo!"

"Uh, yeah."

Jo shook her head and started gesticulating wildly. "No, no, no. I'm Fargo but this is Jo's body."

Zane took a step towards her, trying hard to avoid her frantic pacing. "Jo, you're talking crazy. What's going on?"

Jumping back from him again, she raced around the room looking at herself in anything with a reflection. "This cannot be happening. I was just in the laser tag room with Warren Hughes doing my evaluation and now I'm in Jo's body?"

"Right." If this was a practical joke, it was now officially unfunny.

Yet, rewinding her behavior over the last few minutes, he could see the similarities between his best friend and his girlfriend; the twitchiness, the cadence of his words, the facial expression. Too bad 'body swapping' was impossible. But there were plenty of other plausible calamities that could explain why Jo was acting off her rocker.

They stood there silently for a few moments in a frustrated stalemate.

"Infirmary then?" Zane asked, finally.

"Yep."

As they left her office, Jo's stiff, quick-paced shuffle stirred the beginning threads of panic inside Zane's gut. For the first time ever, Zane tried to ignore the view of Jo Lupo from behind.

* * *

When they walked into the infirmary, it was testing all of Zane's willpower not to throttle the personality taking up residence in his girlfriend's body.

A few minutes ago, he thought body swapping was impossible. A five minute stroll and one long elevator ride later, he was pretty sure science had overlooked this particular phenomenon because right now, the quirky, often brilliant, and consistently annoying essence of Fargo was most definitely in the body of his girlfriend.

"Bodyswapping IS a thing! Or body-copying at least. It happened to Jo when my girlfriend Julia tried to steal her body to hook up with me."

Zane rolled his eyes. "Now I know you're crazy because everything about that sounds ridiculous."

Jo, or Fargo rather, shook his head, arms flying around in cartoonish fashion. "No, it's true. You don't know her because she works for Google and married an astronaut." Zane scoffed as they rounded the corner. Fargo then lowered his voice. "It was, you know, 'before.' Jo totally got drunk and made out with me. You were so pissed! But then we found out it was Julia in Jo's body and they both almost died. It was nuts!"

Thankfully, Zane spotted Carter's profile immediately and figured that Allison couldn't be too far away if he was there. Even with his continued hostilities toward the old guy, he was thrilled to see him so they could get down to the bottom of what's going on. When Allison came into view next to Carter, with what looked like her tongue in his ear, he cringed at how accurate his prediction had been.

He pulled Jo's form towards the two and cleared his throat to get their attention. He needn't have bothered.

"Dr. Blake, PDA in the workplace is against GD policy. And with Warren here?" Fargo shook his head to chastise her while frowning in disapproval.

Carter turned from Allison's embrace to laugh heartily at Jo's statement—or who he thought was Jo. "That's rich coming from you. I can't count how many times I've caught the two of you in a compromising position, not even considering the times you've been busted in my own house. And for the record, I do not think Zane's flimsy 'excuse' that he might be leaving town after his pardon justifies a last minute hook-up in your office."

Fargo shifted his disapproval from Allison to Zane.

"Yeah, your timing was stellar that day. It's a good thing we had other opportunities to say our farewells." His scowl transformed into a grin. "Those were good times, though. I do love that cell of hers."

"Like you were really going anywhere," Carter added with an extra chuckle. "Wait. 'Times' as in more than once?"

Fargo's shocked expression appeared completely exaggerated and creepy on Jo's face. "Zane! You two are so gross!"

"Do you really want to go there? I seem to recall you taking a little pre-launch delight with Holly in one of the labs not so long ago." Fargo flashed him a guilty, sad smile at the reminder.

Allison's eyes widened. "Excuse me? Is there something you'd like to share with us, Jo?"

"Right," Zane said, returning to the issue at hand. "This isn't Jo, it's Fargo."

"What!" Carter and Allison replied in unison.

Fargo fidgeted in Jo's body, crossing and uncrossing his arms while shifting from one foot to the other. "We swapped bodies or something. One second I'm in the laser tag room trying to get through my evaluation with Warren and the next I'm in Jo's office making out with him," he pointed in disdain at Zane. "Is anyone working around here?"

Allison didn't seem convinced. "Ok, this is insane. Maybe you're having flashbacks from that situation with Julia?"

Fargo smacked Zane in the arm. "See, I wasn't lying about that! Allison just backed me up." He turned back to Allison. "This doesn't feel like a transformation thing that we saw before. I think we switched places, Freaky Friday style."

Allison looked from Jo's body to Zane and then back to Jo. Both were nodding their head in agreement. "If you're Fargo, then where's Jo?"

Fargo shrugged. "She must be in the laser tag room with Warren potentially mucking up my evaluation!"

"Calm down Fargo," Zane shouted, earning them a few turned heads. "Can we just go find Jo? If I have to spend too much time with my girlfriend acting like this, I am going to be permanently scarred."

Fargo huffed. "You should be so lucky. I am a catch."

Zane looked to Carter and Allison. "Can we please go?" They both nodded.

TBC …


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

'_Not again.'_

That plea had been her mantra for the past thirty seconds.

Her eyes were squeezed shut even though she knew there was only darkness surrounding her. She'd been in dozens of places like this before; crouched down in dark facilities, stealth, speed and courage her primary weapons. Where was she this time? Maybe a jungle or a war-torn city? One of the numerous desert backdrops she'd "visited" over the years?

Shutting out the world and cowering in a corner weren't going to help her. She was stronger than that. Jo opened her eyes and tried to adjust to the darkness.

'_Stay grounded. This is not real. I'm in Eureka and the past can't hurt me.'_

Jo let out a long breath and panic seized her again. The urge to remain silent and hidden while she figured out her surroundings was overwhelming. She was supposed to be over this.

Flashbacks and post-trauma delusions were a very real thing in her past before coming to Eureka and she was terrified about what was happening to her. She hadn't blacked out like this in years and it was always due to some kind of strong trigger. The last thing she remembered was being in her office with Zane. He had never been associated with her attacks, quite the opposite, in fact.

He had come to see her, supposedly to talk, but that then turned into flirting. She had been calm and relaxed. Happy. They'd been making out one minute and then the next …?

Her head was throbbing and she'd been dizzy for a full minute. The darkness and the silence were bearing down on her, the anxiety fighting to gain control. Which nightmare was it this time? Somalia? Iraq? Afghanistan? They'd lost good people during her many missions. Was she still trying to save them in her mind?

It had been so long since she'd needed a trauma therapist that it was hard to focus on her old strategies for getting through these attacks. Deep breaths were good. She softly inhaled, long and slow, and then let it out.

'Feel the space around you,' her therapist had said. 'Ground yourself in this reality, in the present.'

Jo focused on testing her limbs, listening for sounds, identifying the area surrounding her. She was in protective gear but it felt off; too light for Kevlar, padded but sparsely so. There was technology attached. When she felt the gun in her hand, she stiffened and brought it up to her face for a better view. It wasn't a true weapon. It was likely filled with microchips and hardware rather than ammunition. Laser technology?

She wore protective goggles of some sort but not standard and hardly effective. No gear to cover her head, no military issued uniform. What the hell was going on?

'_Stay grounded. This is not real. I'm in Eureka and the past can't hurt me.'_

As Jo got to her feet, she sensed other things that seemed weird. Her body didn't feel right, like her balance was off or something. Her arms felt weak and heavy with the gun in her hand, even though she'd routinely carried firearms and gear twenty times its weight, easy.

Sudden movement caught her attention as a short, stout figure whizzed by her shooting in her direction. His battle cry echoed in the enclosed space just before a tone emitted from her chest area. She glanced down in time to see it light up, indicating a direct hit. There was no pain though.

Her first instinct was to draw her weapon and shoot back but the figure had already passed her by. As a precaution, she took cover and held her weapon drawn at her side in accordance with her training.

"You are getting schooled, Dr. Fargo." The voice came from behind a partition, across a stretch of exposed space.

Warren Hughes? It took only seconds for her now sharper brain to pinpoint his location in the room and confirm his voice. He had called for Fargo but Jo couldn't sense anyone in the immediate area other than the two of them.

Now that her eyes had adjusted, she could see more details of the room. She'd been here before. There was a familiar layout of barriers and passageways and to her left was the GD logo in white.

The laser tag room, of course. Fargo must be in the middle of his evaluation. Thompson's first report of the day recounted Warren's intention to use recreational therapy in the crews' assessments. But why was _she_ here? And how did she get here? If she found out Zane had played one of his pranks on her, he was a dead man. God help him if it somehow compromised Fargo's evaluation.

She heard Warren shuffling around across the room and decided to creep closer to the wall for protection. Fargo was going to have to take a rain check on his session with Warren because there was no way she was going to play games with the two of them when she had real work to do.

"Warren," she yelled out.

A pause.

A moment of realization.

She looked again to her left and caught her reflection in the mirrored logo. His reflection.

The anxiety returned with a vengeance, this time directed and focused. She touched her cheek, then her neck before checking her chest to make sure it was as flat as she expected. It was sad that body swapping and face stealing were not surprising things to happen to her anymore.

The discovery felt similar to when Julia had stolen her body while keeping her trapped in the scientist's old one. There was confusion and disbelief and a lot of anger.

"This is my worst nightmare," she said aloud.

Her body tensed, at the faint sound of footsteps. She'd momentarily blocked out the actual situation she was in and missed Warren moving a few feet closer to her. "_I'm_ your worst nightmare. I expected more from the laser tag team captain. Perhaps, you're not as ready to lead as you thought, Dr. Fargo."

"Hey, Fargo, is a great leader." She may be pissed about her current predicament but defending Fargo came second nature these days. Besides, she didn't want to tip Warren off that anything was amiss, and that included not compromising Fargo's evaluation if she could help it.

And Warren had promptly given her something to focus on besides the rising terror of being stuck in Fargo's body. It didn't matter who had screwed up, she just wanted to get started on the 'fixing it' part.

"Ah, now we're hearing some backbone. Defend yourself!" Warren shot wildly in her general direction, coming nowhere close to hitting her target.

Jo rolled her eyes and checked her weapon. Frustration was the best motivator for dismissing Warren as fast as she could. She needed to get the hell out of here and figure out what had happened to her. Silently stalking the administrator, she assessed her target, lined up her shots and took out Warren Hughes in lighting quick fashion worthy of her old Ranger days. When the beeping from Warren's device had shut off, his expression screamed skeptical astonishment. She'd worry about what that meant for Fargo later. There were bigger problems at hand.

However, when the shock wore off, Warren relaxed and smiled. "Now that's more like it! Congratulations! You passed the first phase of your review."

That wasn't on the top of Jo's list of things she wanted to hear right now. "There's more?"

Warren laughed and Jo mimicked him nervously. "I'm gonna get changed. You weren't kidding when you said you'd 'bring it.' Look who schooled me after all," he chuckled, walking past her to the locker room.

Jo returned the gun to the holster at Fargo's hip. "Amateur," she murmured under her breath.

* * *

Intending to head to her office to find Fargo, Jo walked towards the exit only to be met by the cavalry. There was no getting used to watching her walk towards herself. Well, it was her, but it clearly wasn't _her_ judging by the fidgeting and furtive glances coming from her body's limbs and face.

Following closely behind Fargo was a frustrated Zane, a worried Allison and a curious Carter.

Having a new target for her simmering anger, Jo turned her attention to Fargo standing in her body. He didn't look as panicked as she thought he should.

"Fargo, what's going on? What button did you push?"

"Hey, that's not fair! I didn't do it this time." Jo glared at him. "Don't look at me like that! Only I can look at me like that!"

Zane put a hand on Jo's shoulder, well Fargo's shoulder now. "The real issue here is what are we going to do about this."

Allison shook her head, trying to follow the conversation between her three friends. "So this is really happening. You guys actually swapped bodies?"

"Or swapped brains or, rather, brain patterns, most likely. This isn't exactly my area of expertise although I gotta admit, it's kinda cool now that the initial shock has worn off. I mean, I'm standing in here all strapped in for laser tag and then, BAM, I'm inside Jo." He grinned at the group, barely containing his bubbling enthusiasm.

Jo cringed and walked over to smack him on the head. "Never phrase it that way again." Fargo cowered away from Jo and rubbed his head. Jo was sure the role reversal of the badass security chief shying away from the nebbish head of Global would be amusing if not for the circumstances.

Fargo continued to sulk but immediately became distracted with running his hands through Jo's hair. "You're only hurting yourself you know," he whined.

"It was worth it," she replied.

Allison sighed. "We should go see Grace. Maybe she's got some idea of how this could happen. And if Warren finds out about this, we can kiss our jobs goodbye."

Everyone nodded; all except for Fargo who was busy examining his new body. "Seriously guys, this is so weird." He ran his hands down his hips and back up again before moving his fingers around his lower back and his torso. Jo took a step towards him planning another form of attack but Zane got to him first.

"You mind not feeling up my girlfriend," he asked gripping Fargo's wandering hand as it came dangerously close to one of Jo's breasts. "Seriously, dude, I want your hands at your sides where I can see them."

Fargo snatched his hand from Zane's grasp. "I've had more than my share of groping from you today. If there's anyone who should keep their hands to themselves, it's you."

Jo pursed her lips angrily, clenching her fists to keep from smacking Fargo again. Remembering what she and Zane had been doing before the switch, she felt a warm blush rise in her—_Fargo's_—cheeks. Zane simply rolled his eyes but kept watch over Fargo's extremities. She noticed that he stayed standing between the two of them, probably to prevent her from doing any serious damage to her own body.

"Hey kids!" came the exuberant greeting from Warren Hughes. It was like he appeared out of nowhere and everyone jumped.

Warren considered the large group gathered around Fargo and Jo. "It's so nice to see such support for your fearless leader. But it's time for phase two, Dr. Fargo. Let's go look at some art." He nodded to the other occupants of the room and proceeded to the exit, clearly expecting Fargo to follow.

Jo dropped her head and shuffled behind the auditor. For once in her life, she was hoping some sort of emergency would spontaneously break out requiring their immediate attention.

"Do something!" she whispered loudly as she passed by the group.

They all wore some variation of puzzlement, even Fargo who was standing next to Zane with his hands stiffly at his side.

Carter opened and closed his mouth, apparently having no kind of brilliant plan to spring her.

Allison flashed her a guilty look and a smile of encouragement.

Zane shrugged, brows furrowed with worry as she walked away. As least she wasn't the only one.

"Fine. But DO NOT leave him alone with my body!" Fargo gaped, incredulous at her implications. In response, she pointed at him and sternly shook her head.

Jo then shuffled away to trail Warren in Fargo's body, resigned to her fate. Turning back once more, she glared at her closest friends who were huddling idly while she walked into the hazy abyss of Warren Hughes psychotherapy.

TBC …


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Zane watched as the machine scanned over Jo's form. He tried to ignore the shifty eye movement and tense posture that indicated Fargo was still in the driver's seat of his girlfriend's body. At least Zane had made Fargo button up Jo's shirt so he wouldn't have to punch him for sneaking peaks at her cleavage.

Now that the shock had worn off, the anger and frustration were really taking hold. It was always something with this town. He fully understood the dangers of living in a community funded by the Department of Defense and founded on the concept of scientific discovery. That often involved taking risks; he was on board with that, probably more so than a lot of other people in town and certainly more than Jo.

That didn't mean that every moment had to be bat-shit crazy. Just when you think life is going well, some experiment was threatening to destroy the town or, sometimes, the entire planet. Let your guard down and the next thing you know you're getting brain-jacked or kidnapped or sent into space. He loved the excitement usually but it was getting way out of hand.

Currently, Fargo was freaking out about getting redacted. Zane had been tuning him out for the most part. He was sure Jo pretending to be Fargo was no picnic either. She was under way more pressure and he'd bet she wasn't lying around whining about it.

"What about neural teleportation?" Fargo shouted over to Grace and Allison. "Doctor Fowler's matter relocation unit blew up in my face this morning. My actual face, not Jo's face," he clarified for the group when he saw Zane's narrowed eyes. "Maybe it affected my synaptic functioning. He said it was having 'issues'," he finger-quoted.

"Lie back, Fargo." Allison warned. "Henry is already looking into every experiment you came in contact with today. All we can do is run neural scans and, hopefully, we can fix this before Warren finds out."

Fargo frowned. "Just hurry up. Jo's in my body talking to Warren. Who knows what she might say!" He flopped back down on the table dramatically.

It was stressful, Zane got it. That didn't curb his anger or annoyance over the situation. Fargo noticed him standing at his shoulder, arms crossed and rolling his eyes at the director's ramblings.

"This is serious," Fargo whined. Zane watched this jaw-clenched image of Jo, tense with Fargo's anxiety. "I was accepted to MIT as a sophomore. Got my Ph.D. at twenty-two. Recruited by Global Dynamics the next year. And now my entire scientific career is at the mercy of G.I. Jane."

For a genius, Fargo was being pretty dense. It wasn't the smartest move to get on his bad side by bad-mouthing Jo.

Zane was feeling strangely protective of her lately. He always had Jo's back, of course, both figuratively and literally. It's just that Jo made it pretty clear that she didn't appreciate anyone being her protector. If anything, she was the knight-in-shining-armor in their relationship. Even back when they were reluctantly starting to like each other, he'd be concerned when she was in danger and would check up on her. But he wouldn't dream of stopping her from doing her thing or warning others to get off her case. This made twice in so many days that he was ready to rip someone's head off for disrespecting Jo, first when Parrish had run off at the mouth in his lab during that fireball fiasco and now again over Fargo.

He'd unpack this new development later, after things were back to normal.

Zane hadn't been wild about standing by as Jo walked out of his sight looking like Fargo. However, there hadn't been any way to stall the inevitable without making Warren suspicious. The least he could do was keep watch over her physical body. The upside was that it kept his nerves from going off the rails. And Fargo was his friend too and it felt right to keep him company. As annoying as Fargo was being right now, it's not like it was his fault either.

"Get over yourself, Fargo, it could be a lot worse." Zane smiled, a teasing gleam in his eye. "Imagine swapping bodies with Carter."

Allison turned from analyzing the machine's readings with Grace and glared at him. Zane straightened at her scrutiny and thought better of pissing off the person who was in the middle of trying to help Jo.

He sat down on the stool next to the bed and turned his attention back to Fargo. "Or you could have switched places with Parrish. At least you know that Jo wouldn't purposely sabotage you like that little snake."

"True." Fargo winced at the suggestion.

Grace frowned at the two of them talking. "Keep still, Fargo. I need to keep these readings steady." Fargo pursed his lips in frustration but remained quiet.

"Besides," Zane added. "I'm more concerned that her body is at your complete mercy. I'm still questioning whether you can be trusted not to take advantage."

Fargo strained to remain still while voicing his displeasure with the man beside him. "Please! If it had been you that had switched places, there's no telling what kind of freaky things you'd do in her body. And while I have your attention, I'd like to request that the two of you stop 'doing it' all over GD."

"We are not 'doing it' all over GD. We may have gotten a little overly-enthusiastic a few times in her office but that's it. Otherwise, we keep it strictly PG-13 … most of the time."

Zane thought Fargo's expression of skepticism was rather convincing on Jo's face. It was true, though. They'd pretty much only made out in her office or his lab and they saved the more adventurous activities for when they had privacy and sound-proofing. Flirting, though, was fair game anytime, anywhere, not that it mattered. Pre- or post-Astraeus, it's not like they had lots of time for snogging at work. They barely saw each other during the day unless one or the other went out of their way.

"I know, I know, I'm one to talk. Once or twice, I can understand. It happens. But all the time? Come on, Zane, it's disturbing. You get paid to work, not to pretend you're on The Real World."

The glare Zane shot his friend and boss was lethal. That was harsh. Fargo knew quite well that he and Jo pulled their weight around GD. He inhaled with purpose, trying to calm his rising temper. As he exhaled, he backed off from Fargo to put some distance between them before one of them said something they'd regret.

He wandered over to the two women leaning over a laptop talking quietly about the results of their tests. "Uh, Grace, we have got to fix this." The irritation in his voice was pretty evident, yet both women were struggling not to laugh. "I'm about to lose it but I'm so glad I can still amuse you." This only broadened their smiles. Allison gave him a pacifying pat on the shoulder and turned back to her computer.

"Don't worry, Zane, we'll take care of it." Grace's confidence was reassuring but it wasn't going to make him worry any less. "Why don't you go get some work done and we'll let you know if anything happens here."

Zane was shaking his head before she even finished. "No way. I want to be here in case something goes wrong or you need help with something or—"

"Zane," Grace said patiently in her 'captain voice.' "I've got Allison here for backup and if you really want to help, then you can get out of our hair."

"And if something goes wrong?" he asked.

"We'll call you." Zane didn't look convinced at all. It felt wrong to just run off to tinker on some experiment when Jo was in trouble. "Look, can you at least go get some coffee or check in with your lab? After that you can come back in to see if there have been any changes. Surely there's something you could be doing."

They were wasting time just talking about it so Zane decided a short break wouldn't be the worst thing. "Fine. I'll just go …" He looked over at Jo's body lying on the exam table, twiddling her thumbs in a very Fargo-like manner. An idea started to take form. "Actually, there _is_ something I could look into that shouldn't take too long. Keep an eye on him for me will you?" He headed for the exit.

"No wandering hands, Fargo," he called over his shoulder.

Fargo's frustrated growl was the last thing Zane heard before he rounded the corner.

TBC ...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Jo was sitting very straight and stiff at the GD director's desk trying to channel her inner Fargo. It was one of the more disturbing aspects of her day that already had a long list of disturbing events. She hoped she looked okay. She hadn't needed to tie a necktie in a while so that had taken her a few minutes to figure out.

So far, Warren seemed none the wiser but he was distracted getting his evaluation materials together and assuring her he wouldn't take up too much of her time, or 'Fargo's' time, rather.

She really hoped Grace and Allison were having some luck figuring out how the hell she had gotten into Fargo's body. Jo had already gone through this once with Fargo's ex-girlfriend and she'd almost died. It felt just as stifling as that last time, sitting in her cell thinking of ways to convince her friends that there was an impostor walking around in her form. At least this time people believed her.

It didn't help that her instincts told her she should be out somewhere investigating or kicking ass. Instead she was sitting in Fargo's office trying not to get him fired.

"Okay, Dr. Fargo, we're just going to do some association exercises. It's no big deal and it'll only take a few minutes. All you have to do is tell me what you see."

Great. Psych tests were some of the worst forms of torture that human resources had ever adopted. Like laser tag, Jo was hoping to speed through this and get down to the infirmary for a report.

Warren held up the first of a series of pictures and she answered without really thinking. "Looks like the dust cloud from an M2 Bradley coming off a land strike."

A pause greeted her response. "It's a tank," she explained in a hushed tone, now quite self-conscious.

"Hmm. What an oddly aggressive imagination you have." She tried to read Warren's expression but you could never really tell where you stood with him. That's what made him so good at his job.

Had that been too blunt? This was Fargo, she had to remember. Think nerdy and science-y.

Warren held up the next card and Jo took the time to concentrate on it for a moment before answering. "Conservation of angular momentum in a series of pirouettes? Time elapsed, of course."

"Ballet fan, Dr. Fargo?" Warren scrutinized. Jo nodded weakly. Strike two.

He switched up the cards and presented a new picture. Jo sat back and tried to think of something appropriately intellectual or ridiculous enough to have come from Fargo. After a few moments, Warren glanced at her expecting an answer.

Jo shrugged. She could only go for what she knew. "Uh, looks like a the aftermath of a standard third generation fuel air explosive device." That got a squint and a head-cock from Warren. "Or it could be from a volcano." She pointed to the card and outlined the cloud formation to punctuate her observation.

Warren chuckled and dropped the cards on the desk. "I have to say, I'm a little concerned, Dr. Fargo. These aren't typical answers for someone with an IQ of 163."

Jo's panic warred with her sense of indignation. She hated feeling stupid, not that Warren was implying that directly. But panic was winning out because things weren't going well at all. She didn't want to be responsible for getting Fargo fired by screwing up his interview.

She straightened and wracked her brain for some kind of reasonable explanation. "Uh, well, my observations probably sound strange to you because, d'uh, I'm totally kidding!" Her mind backtracked wondering if she sounded enough like Fargo to be convincing. "I've learned since this whole Astraeus thing, that you've gotta keep things light-hearted, take things in stride." She cringed, wondering if Warren was buying any of what she was saying. It was a gamble but if she stalled long enough maybe she could think of a way to get out of this before she dug herself any deeper into this Fargo-sized hole.

They both turned as the elevator door opened and Zane walked in with a tablet in hand and a suspicious looking smile on his face. Relief flooded her entire being. She was almost always happy to see him but his timing right now was particularly amazing.

Yet her instincts were on high alert at that shifty smile. He was definitely up to no good. Jo could spot trouble from him a mile away.

"Sorry to interrupt. This'll only take a second." Zane directed his apology to Warren and then turned to Jo. "Dr. Fargo, I need your approval on an extension for that, uh, project we were discussing this morning." His words were too formal to be anything but a ruse. She knew him too well. He handed his tablet to her, expecting a thumb print as verification.

Jo looked down and saw that he had pulled up the orders for the Matrix mainframe dismantling. Zane had changed the storage deadline to the following week.

Jo glanced at Warren who was recording some notes rather than listening to what he probably thought was mundane GD business. "Mr. Donovan, I'm not sure it's appropriate to get approval for that right at this second, under these circumstances." She tried to indicate with her expression that she knew what he was doing and that he was walking on thin ice. Tinkering with the mainframe behind Fargo's back was one thing but taking advantage of this screwball body-swapping scenario to override him was quite another. It felt like a violation of trust. And to try and pull it off in front of Warren when he knew they couldn't have a real discussion about it? Zane was going to be in so much trouble when she got her body back.

"So pushy, these scientists." Even though she offered a strained laugh, her eyes were steely so Zane would know how pissed she was at him. Zane held her gaze, steady and insistent.

Misreading the situation, Warren popped his head up and waved her off. "Don't worry about the interruption, Dr. Fargo. I understand that you're a busy person. I anticipated that we might get sidetracked once or twice so that you can handle your regular duties. It's a good thing! Having a sense of normality and routine is a great recovery method."

Zane was grinning from over Warren's shoulder and Jo vowed to wipe that smirk off his face when she got her hands on him; Fargo's would do until she had use again of her own.

"It's just one tiny approval, _Fargo_," he emphasized. "Pushing back the date won't affect anything else going on at GD and I think we can learn a lot in the extra time that _you_ are allotting. I know how important it is for you to have some answers about the—what was it you asked about? Extraction anomalies?"

Sometimes it sucked being intimate with a cocky genius.

Jo scowled at him, mostly because he had a good point. And there was also the feeling from before that he was on to something. She was sure of it now by his willingness to go this far to find her an explanation. If it gave them answers to what happened to Holly and why she had seen her inside the Matrix, she wanted every opportunity to explore it.

"Fine," she said around gritted teeth. She grabbed the tablet and gave Fargo's thumb print approval for the new deadline. "But we should still get this taken care of as fast as we can, okay."

"Got it," he answered. He took a step backwards but stopped when she called him back.

"Hey, have you heard anything from Grace or Allison?" she asked, as nonchalantly as she could muster.

Zane glanced at Warren quickly and frowned. "Nothing yet, but they're working on it."

Warren observed them, a hint of suspicion in his expression. "Anything, I should know about?"

Damn. They couldn't afford to have him looking over their shoulders right now.

"No, no," Jo responded quickly. "They're just working on something that I was particularly interested in getting the results of. It's nothing critical."

Warren smiled. "Good! I'm planning on meeting with them later and I'd hate to interrupt something important. That goes for you too, Mr. Donovan. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I can't wait, Warren," he replied, flashing his most charming smile at the administrator. Walking backwards towards the door he pointed to Warren's back and mouthed, "He LOVES me!" Laughing, he retreated to the elevator. It took everything Jo had not to roll her eyes.

Instead, she returned her attention to Warren and offered a smile of her own.

"So, let's try a few more images."

* * *

Zane returned to the infirmary in a remarkably better mood than when he left. He was still worried about Jo but the situation had worked to his advantage for a change. He counted it as cosmic payback for the trauma of what had happened back in Jo's office with Fargo. Sure, Jo would make him pay for his subterfuge later but she was complicit now and it needed to be done.

He had to keep digging into the Matrix mainframe. What he'd already figured out was enough to concern him, all the revelations about how the program worked. The cache of personal information, the predictive algorithms, the sophisticated projection models? They were just the tip of the iceberg. The things he'd discovered since last night, though, were directly related to what had happened to Jo. The implications of it went beyond simply confirming whether she had been hallucinating in those last few minutes in the simulation.

He wasn't ready yet to go to Grace with what he had or even to confirm it to Jo. He wanted to be sure of what he was seeing. Jo was becoming suspicious but with this extra time, he'd have something solid to report before long. And he had a feeling it was going to be major.

But that could wait. First, they needed to figure out this body-swapping thing. There was no way he was letting Fargo take over his girlfriend's body, even if he had to pry his friend's brainwaves out himself.

When he walked in, Fargo was still lying in the machine fidgeting as usual. When he saw Zane, his eyes lit up. Zane had to again shake off the cognitive dissonance of seeing Jo like that and remind himself that it was Fargo peering back at him.

"Hey, did you go see me? How's Jo doing?"

"I'm sure she's doing fine, Fargo," he answered not giving anything away.

Fargo crossed his arms in a huff. "No need to get snippy. It's not like it's my reputation and livelihood on the line." The time away had done Zane some good but it certainly hadn't helped Fargo's mood at all.

Zane stood with his hands on his hips. "I'm sorry you're freaking out about this. But there's nothing you can do about the situation right now. So why don't you lie back, and chill out and stop adding stress lines to my girlfriend's face."

Fargo pursed his lips, clearly annoyed. He was silent for a while as Zane leaned against the wall and tapped on his tablet. After a few moments, he glanced at Zane with a smug smile.

Zane looked up from his work. "What?"

"Nothing really. While you were gone, I was just thinking, you're either going to have to date me in Jo's body …" They both cringed at that prospect. "Or date Jo in mine."

Zane's face was full of irritation and then filled with panic as he thought about the prospect of Fargo being some kind of fixture in his relationship. "That's low, Fargo."

Fargo shrugged, unmoved. Apparently, being cooped up so that Grace could run her tests had brought out the nastiness in him.

"Quite a Sophie's Choice," Fargo muttered, adding fuel to Zane's panic. "Who's freaking out—"

His words were cut off when his eyes began a rapid blinking and rolled into the back of his head. Zane scrambled over to the exam table and stared in shock as a spasm tore through Jo's body. Alarms begin to sound on the scanner and Grace consulted her computer to see what was wrong.

"We're getting a neural spike." Allison called over to Grace.

Zane curbed the impulse to touch the woman lying there, now slightly convulsing. "Is he having a seizure or something? Fargo! Fargo, can you hear me?"

His eyes shot open and then a groan echoed off the walls as Jo's body slowly and painfully sat up.

"Jo?" Zane was searching her face for signs of the woman he knew and loved. "Are you back?"

She raised her eyes to meet his before nodding, although her expression contorted with pain after doing so. Her hand reached to massage her head and she blew out a steadying breath.

"Ugh, damn this town sometimes," she moaned.

He wasted no time taking her in his arms and holding her tightly against him. She held him close as well and relaxed into his embrace as he kissed the side of her head.

"I'm so happy you're okay. Sophie's Choice was total bullshit."

"What?" she asked pulling back from him as Allison wandered over to examine her.

Both she and Grace chuckled. "He's been a little worried," Grace explained.

TBC …

* * *

_**AN: Thanks so much for reading, alerting and reviewing (Lady of Imladris, I can't respond to your reviews personally, but it's always a pleasure to hear your feedback). **_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Jo walked into Café Diem and immediately spotted Zane at the counter waiting for an order. It was surprising that he'd beat her here and she checked her watch to make sure she had the time right: 17:05. A few minutes late on her part but still before the 5:15 deadline when he threatened to storm into her office and drag her home.

She shrugged it off and snuck up behind him to plant a kiss on his cheek. When he turned, she could see the stress written all over his face.

"Hey. You look about as good as I feel."

Zane chuckled. He instinctively leaned into her when she sat down beside him. "And you look as beautiful as ever, of course. Certainly better than you looked this morning." She returned his tired smile.

"You'll get no argument from me about that."

From across the counter, Vincent waved right before he disappeared into the kitchen. "Did you order for me?" It was strange for Vincent not to pop over to greet her.

Checking the time himself, Zane put his PDA back into his pocket. "Yeah, I hope you don't mind. I got one of Vincent's specials and a salad. I thought we could share."

"Did you get the—"

"Yes, I got your favorite dessert. I thought you could use it after today." She kissed him again in thanks and set her PDA on the counter. "Sounds perfect," she said.

Zane squeezed her hand and kissed it. "You're perfect."

Her breath caught at his response. She considered him closely, remembering a similar response now lost to time. He had been acting pretty affectionate since she returned to her own body, touching her as much as possible or checking on her every hour. That was after she had to practically pry him off when Allison cleared her to go back to work. He'd wanted her to go straight home—well, straight back to his place. However, since she was in the middle of an office day anyway, she promised to take it easy and leave on time for a change. In order to ensure her compliance, he agreed to leave earlier than usual as well with plans to pamper her for the rest of the evening.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" He let go of her hand, now feeling self-conscious. "Can't a guy be happy his girl is no longer inhabiting the body of his best friend-slash-boss?"

"No, it's not that. It's just—" She shook her head and grinned, letting go of her nostalgic thoughts. "It's just nice to hear … again."

Now it was Zane's turn to be wary of her. He opened his mouth to comment and then shut it, probably realizing the direction of her musings. She moved her fingers to cover his and warmed when he took her hand again.

Maybe they'd talk about it later or maybe they wouldn't.

The next time she glanced over at him, he was trying to catch her eye. She had a good idea of what was coming.

"You still feeling okay?" His question was tentative. As much as it could annoy her, she was more appreciative at his concern right now than offended. This latest debacle in particular had taught him to tread lightly when it came to suffocating her with attention.

Her eyes softened towards him, hopefully letting him know that she wasn't angry with him for asking. "I'm tired and I've still got a little bit of a headache but otherwise I'm fine." He scrutinized her as if searching for anything to contradict her assessment. "Really, I'm doing okay. I'm sure I'll sleep like a log tonight though." She stroked his hand with her thumb until she saw the worry recede from his eyes. "Until then, I believe you promised me a night of pampering."

Zane's look of concern transformed into wolfish glee. "That I did. Do you have anything in mind? I know I do."

Relieved laughter erupted from the both of them. "I bet you do, Donovan. I'll hold you to it." Not caring about being inappropriate in public after the day they'd had, she leaned in to kiss him one more time.

"At least you're not on the clock this time," a voice accused from behind them.

They separated and found Fargo standing at their shoulders, arms crossed. However, the grin on his face betrayed his scolding.

Zane rolled his eyes. "Give me a break, Fargo. I'm still trying to scrub the images you planted in my mind earlier. Sophie's Choice? Nice one, dude." Jo raised her eyebrows in question but he waved her off. "Believe me, you do not want to know." Zane had also said something along those lines earlier; she was going to have to get the details of that particular disagreement.

"No kidding," Fargo added. "I think I've seen as much of you two as I can stand today."

Jo winced and let go of Zane's hand, facing her friend more fully. "The feeling is completely mutual. Yet here you are, Fargo. What's up?"

"Oh! I just wanted to tell you that I'm totally not redacted thanks to you! In fact, Warren said that I have 'a very interesting mind'."

"That's one way to describe you," Zane said. Jo chuckled beside him.

"Very funny, Mr. Grabby." Zane scowled at him at the reminder. "Anyway, what happened with Warren while I was uh … gone? I guess that's what you'd call it?"

If there was one subject Jo could do without over-analyzing, it was being stuck in Fargo's body. "Hopefully, I won't have to call it anything after today." Zane nodded in agreement.

"I'm serious. I want to know what happened during my evaluation. One minute I'm in the infirmary picking on Zane and the next minute I'm back in my own body and Warren's quizzing me with some association exercises. What did you say to him? And why is he offering me his tickets to the ballet the next time I'm in D.C.?"

Two sets of eyes turned on Jo and she could feel the blush rising to her cheeks. She was NOT going to relive that mortifying experience with them right now. "It doesn't matter, does it? The important thing is that you've still got your job. Congratulations Fargo."

He smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Any word on what caused this kind of neural transfer?" he asked more seriously.

Jo sighed. "Not really. Henry went over your schedule, but there was nothing to explain it, not Fowler's matter relocater or anything else. My schedule was a dead-end too since I'd been in my office all morning. Zane and Thompson were the only people I saw."

"And this time, I _know_ I wasn't involved; like I'd ever do something that freakish on purpose." Fargo and Jo grinned at Zane's defensiveness.

Remembering something Zane had mentioned earlier, Jo frowned at the man in front of her. "And I'm glad you were able to hold your bladder until we could switch back." She had to stop herself from shuddering.

"Yeah, your kidneys would disagree, I'm sure. You can thank your boyfriend's threats for that one." Fargo's displeasure at the reminder turned to shock. "Wait. You had to change into my suit. You didn't take advantage, did you?" He attempted to cover himself, making a ridiculous spectacle in the middle of Café Diem fully clothed.

Jo rolled her eyes. "Fargo, unfortunately, I've seen pretty much everything there is to see of you, in case you've forgotten. Why would I take liberties now? Or ever?"

"I don't know. You did dream about me that one time."

"Yes and I'm still traumatized," Jo quipped.

Zane looked back and forth between the two of them. "Am I missing something going on between the two of you?"

"No—"

"Well…"

Jo's denial and Fargo's equivocation were met with curiosity from Zane. "You weren't in town yet," Jo explained.

"Thank god. Who knows what freaky dreams we would have been subjected to if he were around." Jo had to agree with Fargo on that one.

"As I was saying, Fargo, your modesty has not been compromised any more than you've already compromised it on your own. Allison just told me to report any side-effects to her and Grace. Henry is trying to get to the bottom of it and will let us know. He's hoping the worst is over though."

Zane scoffed. "Famous last words in this town." Jo and Fargo nodded.

Vincent chose that moment to emerge from the kitchen with their order, offering his usual good cheer.

"Here we go. Salad, with extra olives for Zane, and a Vincent's Special. For two," he added, giving the scientist a sly wink. Jo was going to have to talk to her friend about encouraging Zane like that. She couldn't have her lover getting even more cocky on her.

Zane grinned but with a bit of shyness she noted. "Thanks, Vincent." He didn't mind people thinking that she had him wrapped around her little finger, apparently. However, she was adamant that no one needed to know the extensive benefits he received for catering to her.

"No problem at all." The older man smiled at Jo and then shifted his attention to the man behind them. "What can I get for you, Fargo?"

As nice as it was to get an update from her friend, the day had long since caught up to her and she was eager to get back to Zane's apartment and make it an early night. Before Fargo could respond to Vincent's question, Jo hopped off the seat, pocketing her PDA and grabbing their to-go containers. "I'll leave you to it."

Zane followed, patting Fargo on the back. "Seriously Fargo, good news about your job."

"Thanks. It's one less thing to worry about." He sighed sadly and Jo offered him a supportive smile to counter his hint of melancholy. Moving into the seat she had vacated he put on a brave face for them and waved goodbye. "Get some rest, Jo. And Zane, try to keep your hands to yourself for five minutes."

He chuckled at his friend. "Not a chance. And I don't hear her complaining."

Jo nudged him in the arm and made him carry their food containers to keep him out of trouble. "Well, I don't!" Zane repeated when they were outside. It's not that what he said wasn't true but he needed to learn a thing or two about being so solicitous concerning their private life.

He was incorrigible. But he was her kind of incorrigible.

Her car was parked in front of the Café so she opened the door and directed him to put the food on the front seat. "I'll see you in a few minutes?" Instead of placing the containers on the seat, however, he ducked into the passenger side and waited for her to join him.

"Okay," she said to herself. Circling the car, she got in on the other side. He looked over at her and she narrowed her eyes. "You're planning something aren't you?"

"Maybe." It didn't look like he was interested in giving away any details though. "Thanks for the ride. I walked over from my place."

There was only one way to get to the bottom of things. Jo stated the car and headed back to Zane's apartment.

TBC …


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Zane had wondered if Jo would figure out his plans before he had a chance to execute. Driving home from Café Diem, she'd already called him out on being up to something. He was, of course, but this time, she was going to enjoy what his devious mind had conjured up.

Despite his assurances that she was a sight for sore eyes and her protests that she was fine, Jo still had the appearance of someone who'd been through the ringer. Her eyes were weary, her usual strict posture was relaxed and she seemed paler than he remembered her being this morning. There'd be no playing tonight like they'd been doing most evenings. She was probably going to have her dinner and go straight to bed.

Or at least that was probably _her_ plan. His plan was along the same lines but held a detour or two.

When they returned to the apartment, he carried the food in and directed her towards his bedroom. He'd come home a little early and laid out her favorite sleeping attire and prepared everything in the bathroom for her to take a long, relaxing shower. Never before had he thought twice about not having a tub, but today, there was a little bit of regret on the issue.

Waiting on the nightstand were items from the one and only massage he'd given her a couple of months ago. It was after Henry and Grace's wedding and he'd wanted to relax her following the eventful day she'd had. That was when they both first realized some complex things were going on between them; things they weren't yet ready to discuss.

Incidentally, it was not long after that when they had their falling out and he'd spent many a night alone, missing her and hating himself for it.

But when he'd given her that massage, things had been good. They surrendered to a little bit of hopefulness and decadence after all the hooking up they'd already done in her office. They took their time with each other. Zane recalled fondly how he'd put his hands all over her body in the name of relaxing her even though the experience had quite the opposite effect on him. He was willing to chance it tonight if it helped her forget the stress of their day.

When Jo walked into the bedroom to change clothes, she noticed what he'd laid out and smiled over her shoulder at him. He embraced her from behind and planted a kiss behind her ear.

"So far, so good?" he asked. Jo murmured her approval and nuzzled against his cheek. "Food first or shower first?"

He felt her appreciation as she tilted her face upwards to meet his. "Food first. Then shower and then massage." Nodding Zane turned her and guided them towards the kitchen. She stopped at the doorway and stepped out of his embrace, leaving him feeling a little empty. "I warn you though. I might end up falling asleep on you."

"For tonight only, I will be very happy if you fell asleep on me. But don't go getting any ideas. I will otherwise want your full attention and commitment going forward."

Laughing, Jo led them to the kitchen and began pulling out plates and silverware for their meal. He loved seeing her this way. Not the exhausted part but the unguarded part of her where she let's him see who she really is. They spent so long dancing around each other. It was nice to finally settle into a real relationship where they could enjoy what they had without letting their insecurities force a struggle of wills. Along those lines, Zane thought about insisting she get off her feet and let him take care of her. But if there was one thing he'd learned about Jo Lupo it's that it wasn't a good idea to tell her what to do. He'd been underfoot enough today anyway. The simple act of serving dinner wasn't going to tip the scales.

They ate with little conversation, neither having much energy for small talk. Zane would have felt better if Jo had eaten more but he wasn't going to push the point. He did insist on clearing the table afterwards though.

"You ready for that shower?" He kissed the top of her head before carrying their plates to the sink and rinsing them off.

Jo pushed herself from the table and brought their glasses over. "Absolutely. You need any help?" Zane shook his head and, after a parting kiss to his cheek, she retreated to the bathroom. By the time he finished with the dishes and put the leftovers away, he heard a familiar hiss behind the walls as the shower started up.

It was hard to know what to make of the day's events. Of course, tonight wasn't the right time to go there but he wondered whether he should try to get Jo talking about her experience or just let it go. Maybe no one else had picked up on it, but he'd seen how shaken she'd been after returning to her body, more so than he would have expected. She'd been too quiet, too compliant and too eager to get away from everyone and return to the solitude of her office. When trouble was afoot, Jo wanted to get out there and kick ass, not sit behind her desk and do paperwork. He was glad that she'd agreed so easily to take it easy yet it still worried him.

When he went back to his bedroom, he double checked his massage supplies and changed into something more comfortable that he didn't mind getting a little dirty. He paused briefly at his bathroom entrance where Jo was still enjoying a steamy shower. He wondered if he should join her but thought better of it. They didn't have a great track record of innocent behavior in that particular location. He had no intention of wearing her out before he could treat her to some extra relaxation.

Instead, he turned down the covers on the bed and waited for her.

Jo stepped into the room clad only in a towel. A familiar tension immediately spread across his body. It was difficult not to react to a naked Jo Lupo with anything but all-consuming desire, yet he closed his eyes and reminded himself that he needed to behave. When he opened them again, Jo was at the foot of his bed, sliding on the sexy underwear he'd picked out for her and laughing at him with tired eyes.

When he saw her reaching for her top, he leapt across the bed and grabbed it from her. "I don't think you'll be needing that anytime soon," he drawled.

"Yeah?"

It seemed she still had enough energy to challenge his arrogant flirtations. She sauntered to the side of the bed were he sat, his eyes never leaving hers. He watched as she loosened her towel and dropped it into his lap. Tracking her, he openly leered when she returned to the foot of the bed, topless, to kneel on the rolled up covers. Zane took the hint and laid the towel down to cover the sheets. When she slowly crawled along the bed to lie down on her stomach, he suppressed a groan at the gorgeous view. He blew out a strangled breath; it was pathetic how quickly she could turn him into a hopeless, horny mess. But it was also utterly exhilarating, even on a night as subdued as this one.

He traced the line of her back from the nape of her neck to the top of her satin-covered backside. Shiny drops of moisture from the wet hair she had pulled over her shoulder peppered her skin. In a few moments, he'd get his hands on the toned muscles of her delicious body presented so alluringly before him. There was no taking his eyes away from her mostly nude form as he reached behind him to grab the bottle closest to them.

Unfortunately, his inattention caused him to completely overturn the contents of his nightstand sending massage oils and lotions all over the bedroom floor. The sound of Jo's chuckles broke the mood, a minor setback at best. He righted the scattered bottles before holding on to the rose-scented massage oil.

"Keep laughing, Lupo. I'll show you." Climbing over her body to straddle her, he smacked her bottom. A finger ran along the top of her underwear and then snuck underneath. He tickled her at the hip and then snapped the waistband back in place. "You know, you didn't need these either."

"Mmm, I beg to differ. I can't have you getting any more distracted now can I?" There was nothing he could say to counter that logic.

For the next hour, he kneaded and caressed, working out the knots and interspersing his therapy with occasional conversation and the stray kiss to the back of her neck or shoulder. If her satisfied moans were any indication, she particularly responded to him running his fingers through her damp hair to massage her scalp. He hoped it relieved a little tension from her headache. When her silence stretched on and he saw that she was limp and relaxed, he clamored off her and cleaned himself up; it was his intention to join her in bed and hold her until she fully fell asleep. Upon returning to the bedroom after washing up, he saw that she had slipped on the tank top he'd snatched from her earlier and was curled up on her side waiting for him. A guy could really get used to having this waiting for him at bedtime.

He didn't waste time dwelling though. He crawled into the bed behind her and took her in his arms, feeling her adjust herself to his body as she'd done almost every night these last couple of weeks. Even though he'd just given her a full-body massage, he couldn't stop himself from gently tracing patterns on her slick skin, a finger along her arm or a hand circling her waist.

"That feels nice," she purred into the arm encircling her. Judging by the fogginess in her voice, it wouldn't be long before she dozed off. Not wanting to keep her up, he didn't respond but kept lulling her with his soothing touch. After a few moments, he heard even breaths next to him and he smiled down at her, enjoying watching her face in slumber. Eventually he closed his eyes as well.

He could feel himself nodding off beside her. It had been a really long day for him too and it was catching up to him quickly. Right before he slipped into sleep, a jerk and a quick tension to Jo's body had him tightening his grip on her. He registered with alarm her wide eyes and wild expression.

"Jo, what's wrong?" He stroked her hair, trying to calm her and only relaxed when he felt the struggle leave her body and awareness return to her expression. Jo let out a long sigh but didn't respond. Instead, she focused on calming her erratic breathing. Zane mentally kicked himself for not being more prepared for this reaction. Jo was so tough and she'd made it seem like the events of the day were more a nuisance than any real trauma. He had known better but let it slide.

Feeling Jo's fingers alongside his made him realize that he'd been gripping her hip in what was probably an uncomfortably firm grasp. He loosened his hold on her but didn't remove his hand.

"I'm fine Zane. Really. This always happens when I'm stressed."

It's not that Zane didn't believe her; he just knew her well enough by now to recognize that her explanation wasn't the whole story. He'd seen her plenty stressed and she'd never reacted like this. It was probably best to wait her out though if he wanted a real explanation. The last thing he wanted to do was add to her anxiety.

After a few minutes passed and she hadn't tried returning to sleep, he squeezed her hand to get her attention. "Are you really okay?" Whether she would answer or not was up in the air but he wanted her to know that he was there for her if she needed an ear. And he was curious what was on her mind. This sense of fear and frustration he sensed from her was unfamiliar and that was not to his liking.

A slight nod was his only response though. Rather, she turned in his embrace and held onto him as tightly as he was holding on to her. He could feel the tickle of her hair against his exposed skin and reveled in her idle strokes along his body.

"Today just dug up some stuff I haven't thought about in a while." He almost stopped breathing at the sound of her soft voice but forcefully steadied himself so as not to scare her off. He wanted her to keep talking, to keep revealing what had hurt her so he could try to make it better. "When Fargo and I first switched bodies, I was so disoriented and confused. It just reminded me of a bad time."

Of course. Sometimes it was easy to forgot about the life Jo had led before he met her, probably because it scared the hell out of him to think of the danger she'd lived under during combat and secret missions into enemy territory. You didn't become as brave or strong or dedicated as she was without having put time into some truly scary situations. And you didn't become as haunted as she appeared to him now either.

"You want to talk about it?" His question was tentative, curious yet hopefully non-intrusive.

Jo's hand stilled as she thought about it. "No," she responded, resuming her caressing of him. "Maybe some other time but not tonight."

That implied promise was enough for Zane. He brushed his lips against the crown of her head. "Whenever you're ready." He intertwined his legs more tightly with hers and breathed her in.

"You want to tell me what's got you so wound up about the Matrix mainframe?"

He tensed, not having expected that abrupt change in subject at all. Honestly, he hadn't even thought about that project in hours, not having the concentration to do much with it after leaving Jo. He had been right that she suspected something. However, he sure as hell wasn't going to get into it right now after the day they'd had.

Zane adjusted the fall of her hair against his arm. "Maybe some other time," he echoed. "Tonight is all about you so get some rest now. I've got you." There was no more patience in him to consider Matrix nightmares or body-switching or her past that reflected the many ways he could have lost her before she had even walked into his life. He just wanted to lay safely with her for the night.

To his relief, she placed a final kiss to his shoulder and closed her eyes once more.

TBC …

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_**AN: Sorry for the delay. Sometimes I end up adding extra chapters to what I've previously written when I feel like there's something missing. These last two chapters were the result of that. At least it will make it so the next few chapters are almost ready to go. **_

_**Thanks again for reading. Feel free to pass on any suggestions and I hope to keep things coming regularly for the next few chapters. **_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Please note that I'm bumping this story up to M for Chapters 8 and 9. If that's not your cup of tea, you can skip these chapters and head right on to Chapter 10 (whenever I manage to get it posted). You won't be missing anything important plot-wise. **_

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**Chapter Eight**

The clock on the nightstand read 7:04 am. Zane leaned over the bed to place a peck on Jo's cheek and headed for the shower.

It was a rare morning when he got up before Jo. Right from the beginning of their relationship, he noticed that she didn't seem to need as much sleep as the average person. Even if they'd spent half the night "playing", she'd be up well before dawn to exercise or work or attack whatever happened to be on her long to-do list. The previous day must have really taken its toll on her if she was still in bed after almost twelve hours of sleep and the rising of the sun.

His alarm went off an hour ago and she barely stirred. When he came back from his morning run, she was still buried under the covers, although he could tell that she was awake and just dozing. He wouldn't begrudge her the extra snooze time so he went for the shower.

Letting the water cascade over him, Zane took a few moments to further cool down and relax after his jog. It was bound to be another busy day of dodging Fargo so he could finish his assessment of the Matrix equipment. There was also his evaluation with Warren this morning but he wasn't worried about that at all. Besides some lingering annoyance with Carter, he was dealing reasonably well with his issues related to their abduction. Getting back to work wasn't really a problem for him, trauma aside.

What Zane worried about was a lack of explanation on the whole brain-swapping incident with Jo and Fargo. That meant that it could happen again and they'd be just as clueless about how to fix it. He'd warmed up to the little guy and they'd become good friends but the idea that Jo could get stuck in Fargo's body was horrifying.

In the meantime, Grace had a bunch of tests lined up for Jo. She was going to be so grumpy by the end of the day because of it, he noted to himself.

Zane washed his hair, mentally cataloguing all the things he needed to do after leaving his apartment: pick up breakfast at Vincent's; stop by the store for a few random items he and Jo needed; check in with his two interns who were supposed to be moving some boxes down to storage this morning to deflect attention away from his work on the Matrix mainframe. The first stop at GD would be the infirmary to see if there'd been any progress on Grace and Henry's research. Jo might bristle at his hovering, however, she was just going to have to get over it. If he made good progress and kept things under control, maybe he could sneak away with her for a quick lunch.

Wiping the water from his eyes, he saw some movement from the far end of the hallway. It looked like Jo had gotten out of bed and was puttering around, doing her usual morning thing. He picked up his soap and began lathering up his body; he'd have to hurry if she wanted to shower soon. Or better yet, maybe she'd join him and they could take turns washing each other's backs. After all, he deserved some kind of reward for giving her that massage last night without jumping her bones.

Sure enough, he heard the soft tap of bare footsteps against tile and the cold swish of air as the shower door opened. The thought of getting naked with Jo Lupo first thing in the morning put a smile on his face. He wandered under the water spray to rinse himself off and get ready to entertain his very welcome guest.

Instead, he was greeted by a dizziness that lasted for several disorienting moments.

In the distance, he heard a loud thump and felt the steam-slicked smoothness of the shower glass against his fingers. He couldn't tell if he had slipped or if there had been some kind of malfunction with the shower. Whatever it was, it had created an instant pounding behind his eyes and a fogginess around his thoughts. Struggling to clear his mind, he shook his head a few times and called out to Jo to see if she was alright.

"Jo?" There was a weird ringing in his ears and even though he'd been in the shower for a while, his skin felt dry and cool.

"Zane?" The panicked timbre of his voice echoed off the bathroom walls. Zane jumped back, hitting the door. He had no recollection of speaking yet he'd heard his own voice loud and clear.

"Damn!"

There it was again. He was positive he hadn't spoken. Unless …

He stared through the clear shower pane at the wooded closet doors in front of him and then turned around. There he met …

Himself …

Standing naked in the shower …

With an expression of horror on his face.

"Oh boy."

He heard his mouth forming the words yet the voice was both alien and all too familiar. Glancing down, he saw the beautiful, fit body that he loved staring at for long stretches of time. He dreamed about this body and all its curves and angles. There were the times he'd touched every part it, tasting and teasing; feeling it heat up and watching it cool down. Never would he have thought he could actually experience it from this vantage point.

Zane raised a hand and marveled at the fingers waving in front of his face. He then reached across the enclosed space and placed them against the cheek of the person in front of him. Closing his eyes, he could feel damp skin at his fingertips and rough stubble against his palm. Either this was the weirdest dream ever or—

He opened his eyes. Nope, that was his body alright. And it was now probably housing his girlfriend.

"Jo?" he called out again.

Zane watched her draw his features into a downward motion forming a frown. It was fascinating and his mind reeled with the wonder of their circumstance. That is until Jo opened her mouth to respond to him.

"Who the hell do you think it is, genius?"

Zane snatched his hand back and matched her scowl with one of his own. "Hey, no need to get snappy. This isn't my fault."

Sighing, she clenched her fists at her side, water beating steadily against her back. "This is just great. We should call Grace and have her meet us at GD right away." She backed up into the spray of water and started rinsing off the lingering soap clinging to his skin.

Incredible. Here he was completely floored by the oddities of which the universe is capable and she was acting like it was just another day at the office. He really needed to get her out of Eureka for a real vacation because she had clearly been here too long.

Zane didn't bother watching his own body bathe as he was going to continue being befuddled by what was happening to him. This turn of events was concerning; he'd been fearing it not five minutes ago. Yet, it was also incredible. Focusing his spinning thoughts, he broke down the situation to its simplest element: he was currently standing in the shower in the body of Jo Lupo.

The naked body of Jo Lupo.

Jo was right, they needed to get to GD right away and figure out what the hell was going on. This could be permanent and they should be thinking about causes and cures and prevention. They should be thinking about security leaks and potentially having to come clean to Warren Hughes.

But instead of prioritizing any of those things, Zane pushed them to the back of his mind and focused on exploring his new body. Fargo feeling Jo up was one thing but it was an entirely different matter if he was the one doing the groping. He practically had permission given the nature of their relationship after all. There was so much about being in her body that piqued his interest. The tickle of her hair was a surprise. It was pulled up slightly but falling onto the base of her neck and upper back. His eyes swept down to the water pooling around Jo's dainty toes mingled with the soapy residue she was rinsing off of his body. Seemingly of its own volition, he'd moved one of his hands to brush against her abdomen, grazing the muscles at her stomach. Finally, his exploration led to the efficiently groomed vicinity of his favorite sex area. He allowed his fingers to wander downward and linger, then thought better of it. Instead, he brought both hands to his hips and moved them upward against the soft skin of her torso until he let them rest against her breasts. He squeezed his eyes shut and sighed at the unexpected pleasure he felt from this touch.

"What are you doing, Zane?" His eyes snapped open to meet Jo's humorless expression which seemed so very stern on his face. "For some mysterious reason, our brains have hopped bodies, mine for the second time in twenty-four hours, and you're standing there feeling me up?"

Zane grinned at her, not at all embarrassed about loving the feel of her body, even more so now that he got to experience it from her point of view. "Did you really expect me not to cop a feel in this situation? This is like every guy's dream."

"Except for the part where we don't know how to switch back!" She had crossed her arms and was glaring at him in that way of hers. He never knew he could look so intimidating.

"Would you rather be stuck in Fargo's body? Face it, if there was anyone on this planet that had to stay inside of you, I'm guessing you'd choose me." There was that phrasing again. This time he didn't mind so much.

She scoffed and turned her back to him, rinsing her hair even though he'd done that already. "Don't flatter yourself," she mumbled. His gravelly voice couldn't conceal that all too familiar tone of annoyance he was used to.

Rather than taking the hint and leaving her alone, he moved forward, embracing her in his arms from behind. Although he was flush against himself essentially, it didn't feel weird to him. It was his own body and he'd felt Jo against him like this dozens of times.

Jo, however, was not so comfortable with the arrangement. She stiffened and stepped out of his arms. Relinquishing her, he turned her around until she was facing him. There was a deep blush creeping into her cheeks; Zane had to suppress a grin at that. Maybe she liked being close to him like this a little more than she was willing to admit.

Zane continued to swivel around until Jo was standing with the shower door to her back and he had maneuvered himself under the spray of water. Unfortunately, he hadn't prepared himself for the rush of new sensations that simple water pressure could bring. It was difficult to suppress a shiver as he felt the moisture sliding down his body and teasing places he'd never had to worry about before.

Across from him, Jo was smirking. It wasn't a half bad smirk either by his own standards. She looked good in his body.

"And here I thought Fargo was the perv," she commented, grinning.

Zane laughed. "Hardly." Now that he'd had a taste of what it felt like in her body, the wheels in his head were starting to turn faster by the second. "I was just satisfying my scientific curiosity." He reached across the shower stall and took her hand. "Perhaps we can satisfy this curiosity together?" He guided her hand to his hip—her hip in actuality—and pulled her closer to him.

Jo jumped again at the contact but Zane quickly grabbed her other arm and didn't let her retreat.

"I know I can't handle making out with Fargo in your body or making out with you in Fargo's body. But I can definitely handle making out with myself; been doing it for years."

"What are you talking about?"

Zane rolled his eyes. "You _know_ what I'm talking about."

He dropped her arm to demonstrate. But before he could gesticulate his explanation, she slapped his hand down and scowled. "God, Zane, you're so juvenile. I get it! I meant what's Fargo got to do with this?"

He ignored her irritation. "Nothing actually. Just Sohpie's Choice … from before. Never mind." There was no way he was going to spend one more second thinking about that disgusting image Fargo had planted in his brain. Rather, he advanced towards her, grinning as she panicked and tried to take a step back in the tiny shower. "Jo, this is an awesome, once in a lifetime opportunity."

Taking another step forward, he blocked her exit with his arm and backed her against the wall of the shower. She searched for something to hold on to. But finding nothing, she fidgeted uncomfortably, water now splashing at their feet.

Zane continued his plea. "I think we should take advantage of this most unique circumstance."

Jo wasn't a scientist like most of the people with whom she worked. But Zane was aware of how much she loved being knee deep in a good puzzle. They'd spent months together studying for the Astraeus mission and he vividly recalled her intense focus when working through something new. She'd make him pull up schematics or hunt down a simulation or a model to get a particular lesson across. She was a hands-on kind of gal like that. And if he had his way right now, he'd be putting those hands to good use for a while.

"You _cannot_ deny being just a little bit curious," Zane prodded. He punctuated his question by creeping a hand around her waist, and pulling her more firmly against him.

Jo looked everywhere but into his eyes as he held onto her. "Zane," she ground out between pursed lips. "I don't think I can." However, her anxious response to the sensation of him holding her told a different story. It was pretty obvious that the idea of a little scientific exploration appealed to her on some level given the physical response he could feel against his thigh.

"Oh, I'd beg to differ," he snarked, glancing down at the evidence between them.

Jo tried to jump back again but he didn't let her go far. "Jesus! How do you control this thing?" Zane suppressed his laughter while he watched her shift from one foot to the other, covering herself. Her eyes were darting back and forth as she tried to get control of her unfamiliar body parts. The full blush to her cheeks kept Zane from teasing her further; he found her shyness rather endearing.

"There's no controlling it Jo, especially where you're involved. I learned that the hard way, no pun intended, of course." She glared at him again and this time he did chuckle at her reaction. "I have a few ideas of what you can do about that though. Believe me, it's nothing you haven't done before—and enjoyed if memory serves."

There was a slump to her shoulders before Jo steadied her gaze on his. "You're loving this, aren't you?"

"For the moment, yeah," he responded. The way he figured, he could spend the next hour worrying about the repercussions of this switch, which they'd have plenty of time for after he satisfied his curiosity. Or he could engage in the most outrageous fantasy he could ever have hoped to experience. It was a no brainer.

Letting go of her, he reached around to turn the water off. He pulled her into the dry hallway, grabbing a towel for himself and for her. When she wrapped it around her whole body as she would her female form, he did his best not to laugh. He had important plans for them and could not risk pissing her off. Instead, he covered himself before taking her hand again, the one not holding the towel together around her bulging form. Her grip was tense but firm while his tried not to betray a mounting excitement.

Guiding her away from the bizarre scene of their switch, he led her into the more promising venue of his bedroom. Things were about to get very interesting.

TBC …

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_**AN: I thought this and the next chapter would be more of a bear to write, not that it didn't have its challenges. But this is not my first body-swapping story (strangely) and I had some great pop-culture references in two particularly amusing episodes of Farscape and Misfits. I owe a bit of inspiration to those two sources. **_

_**Thanks again for reading and reviewing and alerting. Per the phrase I'm stealing from Lady of Imladris, I want to hug all of your feedback. (And sorry for the further digression, but at least it's an amusing digression)**_


	9. Chapter 9

**We're still on an M chapter here but it's the last one. Chapter 10 and the remainder of the story will be back to T.**

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**Chapter Nine**

Zane led Jo from the bathroom and pushed her onto the bed. They were both still wrapped in his towels as he climbed on after her.

Jo sat uncomfortably at the head of the bed while watching him crawl towards her. She couldn't believe she was even entertaining the idea of recreational activities while in this state. Even though this was her umpteenth time at the body-swapping rodeo, Zane was being so casual about the whole affair. It was infuriating.

Yet …

This time it was different. She'd been so angry and confused after Julia had stolen her identity. Even when Zane had kissed her in that GD cell, it was relief she felt more than attraction. Plus, her body had started breaking down almost immediately afterwards and the remaining experience involved either panicking or a great deal of pain. When it came to switching places with Fargo, the idea of him as an anatomically correct human being, much less a sexual object, was unthinkable. Just changing from his laser tag clothes into his suit had been as un-sexy and annoying as she'd imagine intercourse with him would be.

In her head, she imagined Fargo's voice chastising her for being harsh. Then she grew further irritated by how that thought muddied her already complicated identity issues.

But with Zane? Even though she was in control of his body, it was still _his body_. And it was nude and wet and as delicious-looking as she always found it.

Shifting against the pillows behind her, Jo groaned inwardly. It was horrifying how easily the lower half of her new body could betray her now. If she didn't stop thinking about his hotness, Zane would certainly discover how intriguing his flirtations were to her; then he'd never get off her back about fooling around. Even if she was curious—a fact she refused to admit to him—they needed to get to GD and find some answers, not waste away the morning having freaky sex. There hadn't been any updates this morning from Grace or anyone else but surely this new development had to mean something.

"Relax, Jo." Hearing her voice with Zane's inflection snapped her focus back to how quickly he was advancing on her. "This doesn't have to be torture. I just want to satisfy our curiosity. For science," he added.

"For science my ass," she muttered, crossing her arms.

He smirked at her. "Well, if you insist." He threw off his towel and kneeled next to her, bare from head to toe. Jo's instinct was to turn away which had Zane bursting into full-blown laughter.

"You can't tell me you're embarrassed by your own body."

"Zane, can you pretend like this is at least a little bit weird to you?"

He shrugged. "You think it's weird, I think it's an opportunity. Now lay back." He gently pushed at her shoulder and Jo found herself leaning against the wall. "Good. Now I'll just get closer …" Zane inched himself backwards until he was brushing against her.

When he tried resting himself along her body, or what was actually his own body, he froze unexpectedly.

Now it was Jo's turn to be amused. He thought he was so cute but his discomfort being this close to another male form, even if it was his own parts, had just exposed a flaw in his plan.

"Problem?" He scowled and pursed his lips at her challenging raised eyebrow. Sitting back up, she tried to prey on his frustration. "Now do you understand why this is a terrible idea? Let's just go find—"

Zane's arm flew up to nudge her shoulders back again. "Not so fast, you're not off the hook. I was surprised is all." There was a pause as if he was gathering his courage and thinking of how to proceed. Jo had expected him to abandon or at least modify his plan but, instead, she felt him wriggling down against her once more, careful to steer clear of certain areas.

"I can go put on some pants if you want." Her sarcasm slipped easily into a stern seriousness. "Or better yet, we can act like adults and go talk to Grace and Allison about the situation. You _do_ realize that us swapping bodies like this is a problem, right? You remember how freaked out you were yesterday? Because I do, quite well."

Jo hoped he would see reason; she didn't want to abandon him or anything. Under normal circumstances, she welcomed a little sexual creativity with him. But they were so far removed from "normal circumstances" right now, even by Eureka standards. She simply couldn't ignore this kind of discomfort; it was difficult to see how they could realistically enjoy each other.

While she'd been lost in thought, Zane finally settled himself flat against her, tense and awkward. He sighed. "I remember worrying about you, JoJo," he murmured while stroking her knee. "I also remember that nothing Grace or Allison tried made any difference; all they did was run tests. I'm not saying we should skip out on them and have crazy Doppelgänger sex all day, I'm just saying that we should take a few minutes to do some empirical research."

"Doppelgänger sex? Really?"

Zane waved off her dig. "At best, we'll switch back automatically just like you and Fargo did. And at worst," he paused and swallowed roughly before continuing. "At worst, I get to be with you throughout. It's a little more intimate than either of us ever could have imagined but not a bad gig by my estimate."

"Zane—"

He squeezed her knee to cut her off and regain her attention. "It'll make us better lovers, that's for sure. And if I can find a few new ways to turn you on I'll count this day a success no matter how disastrous it started." His words were quiet, reverent almost. He took her chin in his free hand and tilted her head down to stare into her eyes. "Hey, I know you're scared. Don't think that I'm not anxious about this too. But we can either head to GD and sit around while the 'experts' run their tests or we can make the most of the situation and have a little fun in the process."

Jo looked down into her own face as he spoke to her and saw the longing and the playfulness of his words. She saw the fear too along with his sincerity—and that was the killer. Sometimes she really hated when he was this persuasive.

"So," he said with confidence, realizing he might be winning her over. "No need to move." Smiling up at her, he let his fingers stray slowly from her face. His weight against her shifted as he straightened his shoulders, apparently determined to see the situation through.

"Are you sure?" she responded. He was putting on a brave face now but she was still a bit skeptical about whether he could go through with it. Neither could predict how things would go no matter how awesome Zane thought it'd be playing with her body.

"Yes, I'm sure. I am secure enough in my masculinity to roll with this."

"You are 'secure in your masculinity'" she mocked. "Zane, you literally have a vagina right now." He looked down at himself and winced at her observation.

Jo sighed and wondered if she should bother with any more stalling tactics. Even though she'd agreed to satisfy his curiosity for a while, it didn't mean she was as comfortable as he was going with this particular flow.

"You're probably right though," she continued. "You have to be pretty confident in your manhood to be so comfortable with that hair trimmer of yours."

He huffed at her tone. "Hey, I believe in man-scaping. And don't give me that attitude because I know you love it." He tilted his head up again to face her. "You know what, Babe, you're really killing the mood right now and I'm determined to get my trouble's worth out of this debacle." Further adjusting his body against Jo, he tried to find the most comfortable position for his plans.

A mood-killer was she? In response to his unintended challenge, Jo grabbed his hands and guided them until he was cupping both breasts. Fingers joined, she gave a squeeze through his grip. Zane's sharp intake of air confirmed her point.

"And you're back," she joked. She smirked down at his expression which was still filled with wonder at the sensations of which a female body was capable.

When Zane gathered his wits about him again, he smiled. "Now you're getting into the spirit of things." His hands hadn't left her breasts she noticed. "This feels amazing by the way."

Strangely, she was getting used to hearing his words in her voice as if that were a semi-normal thing in their life.

Jo rolled his eyes. "You've been around my body enough to navigate yourself I'm sure." The tension to her posture gave away her nervousness at being this intimate with Zane. She wondered—and feared—how far he'd want her to go and what kind of help he wanted from her. But it was difficult to deny the flush of warmth at how much he enjoyed her body.

Zane scoffed. "What fun is that though? I want the VIP tour where you show me all your favorite spots." He replaced his hands with hers against the breasts in front of them. "I want to feel the things you like."

"You already know what I like," she argued, cheeks red at his boldness and her reaction to his provocation. "Although I guess your request makes sense given how much you love to get in my pants."

Zane hummed his approval. "Mmm, that I do. Please, Jo? I want us to experience this together." He leaned over and pressed his lips against her chest. "Would it help if I said pretty please?" He glided his leg along hers in a slow seduction. "Just close your eyes and pretend everything is as it should be. We've just shared a bath or I managed to finish giving you a massage. Or I've just come back from my run and I'm all sweaty and manly the way you like."

"Shut up," she laughed but his scenarios were relaxing. Those were good times, back when they were still keeping things light and sneaking around. She closed her eyes in compliance.

"It's only the two of us here, Jo, and I want you to show me what happens when you're all alone and thinking of me."

Jo had to admit that his motivation was stimulating. She was starting to ache in unfamiliar places and wasn't quite sure how she should go about addressing it in their current position.

She continued to make use of Zane's hands to touch and stimulate as she would her own body. With his further encouragement, she thoroughly explored her breasts, extracting every sensation he was now pleading from her. She went from cupping him in her hands to teasing a nipple or caressing her fingers along his now sensitive skin. Each touch met with his approval.

Eyes, still closed, she guided her hands downward stroking her belly button, tickling her torso, cradling her hips. His fingers beat hers to the wet center of his new body where he predicted the most explosive reactions would occur; Jo tsked his urgency and removed his probing hand. Instead she took her time building up his arousal. She registered Zane's frustrated pleasure as he requested a particular touch or vocalized a favorite impression. He let himself enjoy the ways she chose to play with him; what started out as a stalling tactic was turning into an interesting game.

If they were really going to do this, she would at least let it linger so he could experience the passions he so freely brought out of her.

After a particularly blissful stroke of her fingers, Zane gasped and Jo opened her eyes to examine his reaction. With Zane in possession, her entire body was flushed, a dark blush kissing her cheeks and spilling down her neck. Zane had closed his eyes as well and was gripping his bottom lip between his teeth while she continued to move her fingers against him. He seemed oblivious to everything around him save the feel of her touch against him and his hands urging her on. His right leg was absently rubbing against her thigh and he was moaning as he turned to rest his cheek against her arm.

It was an odd thing, seeing herself like this. She could almost forget she moved with Zane's likeness, touched with his larger hands and kissed with his lips, chin stubbled and scratchy. Instead of the discomfort she thought would accompany this experience, she felt love and attraction; a familiar connection with only a hint of embarrassment.

There was a satisfaction building at how much Zane enjoyed being sexed by her hands. Watching him writhe against her, analyzing his responses, it was like seeing everything that her body was capable of in its deepest moments of gratification. Was this what she looked like to him when they were together? It was an intriguing, insightful experience. She'd have to thank him for it later when the dust settled on this predicament.

Closing her eyes again, Jo sensed the friction of slick skin sliding along toned mass; Zane's newly acquired softness against the solid power she embodied from inside him. It was as if nothing had changed; it felt like every other time he'd surrendered to her. As he got closer to his release, he joined his fingers with hers, wanting to feel her everywhere, testing which pressure was too much and which was not enough. He protested when one hand retreated upwards but then gasped in appreciation when she roughly grasped a breast and revisited some of their earlier explorations.

As she heard Zane reaching the peak of all their stimuli, she tangled her fingers in his now longer hair and peppered his neck and shoulders with open-mouthed kisses. That never failed to send him over the edge during their regular lovemaking. When she felt him tense up, all wetness and pulsing vibration against her fingers, she urged him on with erotic pleas whispered into his ear. She encouraged him to let go, to understand how good he could make her feel when they made love. Zane's full-throated cries echoed against the walls, warming every part of her body.

That sound conjured a different kind of contentment than she'd ever expected.

Zane's deep breaths broke the silence of the room, his murmurs of fulfillment joining soon after.

"That was …" He paused, trying to find the right words to articulate what he had just experienced in her body. He closed his eyes again and licked his dry lips, happy to revel in the moment for a while. Jo waited patiently for him to get his faculties about him.

Finally, he opened his eyes and tilted his head up towards her. "Every time you touched me was like this throbbing. And not just where our hands were but in my toes and in my hair and … and everywhere." Bringing his hand up to his face, he wiped the sheen of sweat from his brow and flopped his arm across her with abandon. He continued to rub his legs together as the waves of pleasure dissipated. "There was this amazing buildup that got better and better. Every second I'd say to myself, 'this can't get more intense' and then it was too much. But always I wanted more too because I needed something to keep it going or to make it stop." He watched her grin at his incoherent explanation. "I know I'm not making sense."

She was indeed amused at how much a scientist he was, wanting to analyze and record his data after a successful experiment. But he'd never had a field test quite like this. It was hard not to smile about his post-orgasm euphoria. Not that she didn't appreciate sex; she certainly enjoyed it, especially the amazing sex she had with him. It just never occurred to her how different their reactions actually were.

Zane rested his head against her chest, wavering from side to side every so often. "I am never giving your body up, JoJo." He closed his eyes again and smiled as he came down from the dopamine high they'd just created.

Chuckling, Jo covered his hand with hers. "You say that now but something tells me you'd change your tune when you got your first period or actually had to go through child birth."

As soon as she said it, the nerves rose up. She didn't want him to feel awkward about her last suggestion. They were so early in their committed relationship that issues like co-habitation and having kids seemed a little tricky still.

Luckily, Zane was too far gone to think much of it. "I'll take it, Lupo, no problem. That was like the best thing I've ever experienced in my life.

Now Jo was full on laughing. "I'll remember you said that."

From beside them on the nightstand, Jo's phone started ringing. She picked it up to answer but then remembered that she wasn't in her own body and that might cause some confusion for whoever was on the other line. Zane certainly was in no mood to speak for her in his state, not that she would trust him to avoid causing some mischief otherwise.

Checking the display, she saw that it was Grace, probably calling to check in on her. If there was anyone who wouldn't need a complex explanation right now, it was she.

"Hello." Jo barely avoided answering with her customary "Lupo" greeting.

"Hey, Zane. I guess you're back from your run. I just got the message you sent earlier about checking on Jo but I don't have much news. Actually, I was calling for her. Is she around?"

Jo's immediate response was an exasperated sigh and an eye roll in Zane's direction. "It's me, Grace. There was another neural transfer this morning, this time with Zane."

A pause. "This is … extraordinary."

"You're telling me." Swapping ears, Jo nudged Zane who was still reclining against her. He balked when she pushed him into a sitting position but she needed to focus. "I guess you'll be our first stop when we get to GD."

Grace was silent again on the other line, no doubt processing this new variable. Jo could hear her pecking on the computer in the background. After a few seconds of stillness, she remembered herself. "Yes, yes. Please come straight to the infirmary. We need to run new PET and SPECT scans on both of you right away before this gets any worse. I found some elevation in your Z-wave patterns as compared to other Astraeus crew members. I'm not sure what it means and I want to go over my data with Henry first before I say whether it's concerning."

"I don't know what that means either but I'm sure you guys will get to the bottom of it." Henry had long ago earned Jo's steady faith in him and she trusted Grace as well, even in the short amount of time she'd known her. "We were just about to head over there so we'll be there soon."

By now, Zane had gotten a little bit of control over himself and was scrutinizing her. She didn't trust that look.

"Okay, Jo, I'll see you in a few. Bye."

"Bye." Jo disconnected and returned her phone to the nightstand.

Zane crawled away from her to kneel back on his legs and continue his perusal.

Jo frowned. "What?" He cocked his head to the side, grinning at her in a way that identified him even in her body. His wheels were definitely turning about something again. "And you wanna put some clothes on now? You've had your fun for the moment."

"Don't think you're going to get out of this so easily."

She pulled her legs up and moved to swing them onto the floor. "We're way past getting out of this easily. You just heard me on the phone with Grace. She wants us at GD so she can run some scans or whatever."

"I guess I didn't make myself clear." Zane grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back down onto the bed. "I should have said 'don't think you're going to _get off_ so easily.'" He shimmied over to the side of her, putting a hand on her chest to see what kind of reaction he would get.

Jo swallowed at the strange sensations his touch was causing her, the electricity racing from her stomach down to her groin. This was all too weird.

"I'm good, thanks." She'd meant for it to be a definitive statement to keep him from moving forward. But the breathy delivery was only too encouraging for her playful boyfriend.

He smiled at her, his hand moving from her chest to her abdomen. "Oh, I know you're good. You were very good to me just now."

Jo closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, although it was very difficult with the amount of lust he'd stirred within her in the last ten seconds. Damn him and his sneak attacks.

"We've gotta go," she pleaded. Shaking her head to clear the fog, she abruptly sat up, forcing Zane's hand to slide even farther down and almost completely derail her attempts to escape.

"Five minutes, JoJo." He took her momentary paralysis to sneak behind her and cradle her in his arms as she had just done for him. When his hand creeped underneath her towel and made firm contact with the hardness growing between her legs, her strangled moan was the only response she could manage. With just that one touch, she was overwhelmed with powerful sensations of pleasure, more focused and urgent than she had ever felt in her life.

"Make that ten minutes," he added.

Her last coherent observation was the sound of her own voice in her ear. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't return the favor?"

TBC …

* * *

_**AN: As you can tell, my angle here wasn't about "crazy Doppelgänger sex" but more a focus on expressing ownership over one's own body and sharing that sexuality with one's partner. Both Zane and Jo strike me as characters who are fairly comfortable on that front (Zane more so than Jo in my mind). **__**Please forgive my grammatical errors in this chapter. As you can imagine, it was a challenge to keep all the possessive pronouns consistent and coherent. My beta and I gave it our best shot but we were bound to screw it up a few times.**_  


_**I know we went a little bit off the rails in the last few chapters. But we return to our regularly scheduled story in the next chapter. There's plenty more fun to be had with a body-swapped Zane and Jo waiting around the corner. **_


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